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P 110126Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
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INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5//
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
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RHMFIUU/USFJ //J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/CTF 72
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RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6335
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 2310
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2489

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 003126 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR E, P, EB, EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA; 
WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST DIVISION; 
TREASURY/OASIA/IMI/JAPAN; DEPT PASS USTR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; 
SECDEF FOR JCS-J-5/JAPAN, 
DASD/ISA/EAPR/JAPAN; DEPT PASS ELECTRONICALLY TO USDA 
FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR; 
CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 11//08 
 
Index: 
 
Opinion polls: 
1) Aso Cabinet support rate at 37 PERCENT , drops below non-support 
rate of 41 PERCENT  in Asahi poll, with 63 PERCENT  of public 
unappreciative of government's planned handouts  (Asahi) 
2) Kyodo poll finds Aso Cabinet support rate of 40.9  PERCENT  now 
below the non-support rate of 42.2 PERCENT   (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
Aso diplomacy: 
3) Prime Minister Aso to meet President-elect Obama at APEC meeting 
in late November  (Yomiuri) 
4) Aso to meet separately with leaders of newly emerging economies 
at financial summit  (Yomiuri) 
 
Defense and security affairs: 
5) U.S. Embassy apologizes for unannounced arrival of U.S. 
nuclear-powered submarine at Naha's White Beach  (Mainichi) 
6) U.S., Japan to basically review tactics for responding to Korean 
contingency  (Yomiuri) 
 
Tamogami incident: 
7) Former ASDF chief Tamogami is unrepentant of historical views in 
appearing before Diet, denies giving order to subordinates to write 
contest essays  (Asahi) 
8) Main exchanges of Tamogami in his Diet testimony  (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
9) Democratic Party of Japan to pursue Tamogami incident at length 
in the Diet, putting aside issue of bill extending the MSDF 
refueling mission in Indian Ocean  (Yomiuri) 
10) National Defense University uses textbook that justifies the 
past war, calling it "basically self-defense"  (Akahata) 
 
11) Corporate bankruptcies breaking all records in October with 
1,231 cases  (Yomiuri) 
 
Articles: 
 
1) Poll: 63 PERCENT  see Aso's cash payout policy as unnecessary; 
Cabinet support down to 37 PERCENT 
 
ASAHI (Top play) (Abridged) 
November 11, 2008 
 
Only 26 PERCENT  of the nation's voting population think Prime 
Minister Aso's plan to hand out cash benefits to individual 
households-a showcase of the government's additional package of 
economic stimulus measures-is a necessary policy, the Asahi Shimbun 
found from its telephone-based public opinion survey conducted Nov. 
8-9 regarding a potential general election for the House of 
Representatives. Meanwhile, negative answers accounted for 63 
PERCENT , overwhelming positive responses. The Aso cabinet's support 
rate was 37 PERCENT , with its nonsupport rate at 41 PERCENT . The 
nonsupport rate topped the support rate for the first time, with the 
approval rating at 41 PERCENT  and the disapproval rating at 38 
PERCENT  in the last survey. 
 
The Aso cabinet's approval rating fell below 40 PERCENT  for the 
first time. Among men, the support rate was markedly down from 42 
PERCENT  to 36 PERCENT . Among those in their 30s to 60s, the 
nonsupport rate was higher than the support rate. In the public's 
choice of political parties for proportional representation in the 
 
TOKYO 00003126  002 OF 009 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 11//08 
 
next general election for the House of Representatives, the ruling 
Liberal Democratic Party scored 30 PERCENT  (33 PERCENT  in the last 
survey), with the leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan 
(Minshuto) at 33 PERCENT  (30 PERCENT  in the last survey). Asked 
about the desirable form of government, the option of an LDP-led 
coalition government was somewhat down from 33 PERCENT  to 29 
PERCENT , with a DPJ-led coalition up from 37 PERCENT  to 40 PERCENT 
. In the breakdown of public support for political parties, the LDP 
stood at 30 PERCENT  (32 PERCENT  in the last survey), with the DPJ 
at 24 PERCENT  (19 PERCENT  in the last survey). 
 
2) Poll: 58 PERCENT  don't appreciate gov't payouts; Cabinet support 
down to 42 PERCENT 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Top play) (Abridged) 
November 11, 2008 
 
A total of 58.1 PERCENT  of respondents do not appreciate Prime 
Minister Taro Aso's plan to pay out 2 trillion yen in cash benefits 
to households as part of the government's new economic stimulus 
package, according to a telephone-based public opinion survey 
conducted across the nation by Kyodo News on Nov. 8-9. Meanwhile, 
31.4 PERCENT  answered "yes" when asked whether they appreciate it. 
 
In the survey, respondents were asked about the government's new 
package of economic stimulus measures adding up to 27 trillion yen. 
Asked whether they appreciate the economic package, 47.9 PERCENT 
answered "no," with only 37.1 PERCENT  saying "yes." The figures 
show that the government's economic stimulus package has failed to 
obtain public support. This can be taken as indicating that the 
public thinks the efficacy of such government payouts is unclear and 
that the public is concerned about a finance crisis resulting from 
such spending. 
 
The approval rating for the Aso cabinet was 40.9 PERCENT , down 1.6 
percentage points from the last survey conducted Oct. 18-19. The 
disapproval rating was 42.2 PERCENT , up 3.2 points. The nonsupport 
rate topped the support rate for the first time since the Aso 
cabinet's inauguration. 
 
Asked about the desirable form of government, 43.2 PERCENT  of the 
respondents opted for a coalition government centering on the 
leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto), with 36.1 
PERCENT  choosing a coalition led by the ruling Liberal Democratic 
Party. Meanwhile, the DPJ marked 35.5 PERCENT  in the popularity 
ranking of political parties for proportional representation in the 
next election for the House of Representatives, with the LDP at 33.6 
PERCENT . The LDP was below the DPJ both in the public choice of 
government and in the popularity ranking of political parties for 
proportional representation. 
 
In the breakdown of public support for political parties, the LDP 
stood at 33.8 PERCENT  and the DPJ at 26.5 PERCENT . The New 
Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, was at 3.5 PERCENT . Among 
other political parties, the Social Democratic Party was at 3.0 
PERCENT , the Japanese Communist Party at 2.5 PERCENT , the People's 
New Party at 0.5 PERCENT , and the New Party Nippon at 0.1 PERCENT 
. 
 
3) Prime Minister Aso to hold talks with U.S. President-elect Obama 
late this month 
 
 
TOKYO 00003126  003 OF 009 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 11//08 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 11, 2008 
 
Government officials revealed yesterday that coordination is 
underway for Prime Minister Taro Aso to meet with U.S. 
President-elect Barack Obama in the United States, after Aso attends 
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Conference in Peru on 
Nov. 22-23. 
 
According to the government officials, during a telephone 
conversation with Obama on the morning Nov. 7, Aso conveyed his 
hopes to stop over at the United States on his way back from Peru 
and Obama told Aso that he would like to meet him. 
 
4) Prime Minister Aso to hold summit meets with leaders of emerging 
countries 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 12, 2008 
 
Prime Minister Taro Aso will make a four-day trip to the United 
States from tomorrow to attend an emergency financial summit that 
will take place in Washington Nov. 14-15 (local time). The 
government is now arranging summit meetings for Aso with Brazilian 
President Silva, Indonesian President Yudhoyono and British Prime 
Minister Brown on the 14th (local time). 
 
Aso wants to hold such meetings with the top leaders of newly 
developing countries in order to show them Japan's intent to play a 
"bridging" role between developing and industrial countries, 
according to a government official. In his visit to Washington, 
therefore, Aso intends to give priority to holding meetings with the 
leaders of emerging countries, rather than with Group of Eight (G-8) 
leaders. 
 
Appointing former Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs 
Toyoo Gyoten and former Administrative Vice Foreign Minister Yoshiji 
Nogami as special advisors to the cabinet, the government has 
already dispatched them to South Korea and Indonesia, which will 
send their leaders to the upcoming financial summit. The government 
also plans to send envoys to India and China in order to seek their 
cooperation for such Japan's proposals as forming an international 
framework for supervising and controlling financial institutions, 
reviewing market-value accounting, as well as introducing 
regulations on rating companies. 
 
5) U.S. nuclear sub calls at Okinawa without notice, U.S. Embassy 
apologizes for 'error in reporting' 
 
MAINICHI (Page 1) (Abridged) 
November 11, 2008 
 
The USS Providence, a 69,000-ton nuclear-powered attack submarine of 
the U.S. Navy, made a port call yesterday at waters off White Beach, 
a U.S. military facility in Okinawa Prefecture's Uruma City, without 
prior notice to the Japanese government. The Providence stayed there 
for about two hours. This is the second port call without prior 
notice since the U.S. government stated in August 1964 that it would 
inform the Japanese government at least 24 hours before entering 
port. The U.S. Embassy in Japan apologized to the Foreign Ministry 
in response to its protest, saying it was due to an error in 
reporting within the U.S. Navy. 
 
TOKYO 00003126  004 OF 009 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 11//08 
 
 
The Providence belongs to the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Fleet. She stayed 
at waters 5.1 kilometers off the naval berth of White Beach from 
around 10 a.m. to a little before noon on Nov. 10. The Foreign 
Ministry explained that there were no abnormal readouts to show 
radiation leaks. 
 
An Okinawa-based patrol ship of the Japan Coast Guard happened to 
spot the Providence yesterday at around 10 a.m. The JCG reported the 
submarine's presence there to the Ministry of Education, Culture, 
Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), which is in charge of 
checking radiation leakage. MEXT reported it to the Foreign 
Ministry's Status of U.S. Forces Agreement Division. A MEXT 
monitoring team was then prepared for the scheduled port call of the 
USS Hampton, another U.S. nuclear-powered submarine, as the Japanese 
government had received prior notice from the U.S. government about 
its port call scheduled for the afternoon of Nov. 10. 
 
Shinichi Nishimiya, director general of the North American Affairs 
Bureau at the Foreign Ministry, called U.S. Embassy Minister Zumwalt 
at around 11 a.m. yesterday to lodge a protest. 
 
6) Japan, U.S. to carry out basic review of Korean contingency 
tactics, focusing on over a dozen items, including selection of 
airports 
 
YOMIURI (Page 1) (Full) 
November 11, 2008 
 
It has been learned that the Japanese and U.S. governments have 
begun to work on a basic review of the joint tactical plan of the 
U.S forces and the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) for meeting a regional 
contingency, such as a Korean Peninsula emergency, as well as a 
Japan emergency. This was revealed on Nov. 10 by multiple informed 
sources. More than a dozen items from the plan are up for 
consideration, including the selection of private airports to be 
used by U.S. forces during a contingency, the arrangements for 
transporting wounded U.S. soldiers and selection of the hospitals 
that will accept them. With the deteriorating health of North 
Korea's General Secretary Kim Jong Il, the two governments see 
elements of instability on the Korean Peninsula, and plan to 
accelerate the work of reviewing the plan, aiming at completion by 
next fall. 
 
This will be the second basic revision of the plan, following one 
carried out during 2006-2007. Both governments have never announced 
the existence of such a plan. The contents of the current study 
covers more than a dozen items including the following: 1) selection 
of private airports and harbors  to be used by the U.S. forces 
during an emergency situation; 2) air space control that includes 
flight restrictions; 3) transport of wounded U.S. soldiers and a 
system of medical support that would include facilities to accept 
the casualties; 4) handling by the Japanese government of persons 
regarded as prisoners of war by the U.S.; 5) coordination regarding 
the priority use of radio frequencies by the U.S. forces and the 
SDF; 6) response to CBRN attacks; 7) the strengthening of 
intelligence sharing between Japan and the U.S.; 8) close inspection 
of facilities prioritized for protecting U.S. forces; 9) 
consideration of mutual logistical support; and 10) handling of the 
war dead and those missing in action. 
 
In the selection of private airports and harbors, the U.S. forces 
 
TOKYO 00003126  005 OF 009 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 11//08 
 
have proposed the use of approximately 30 facilities, and since last 
year in the spring, coordination has been going on. But with such 
new factors as rumors of unstable health of General Secretary Kim 
Jong Il, the Japanese side has speeded up coordination with relevant 
organs. The government will clarify the role sharing of relevant 
ministries and agencies, such as providing medical support, use of 
frequencies, and responding to CBRN attacks. 
 
7) Tamogami denies giving an order for sending essays to contest 
before Upper House Defense Committee as unsworn witness 
 
ASAHI (Top play) (Excerpts) 
Evening, November 11, 2008 
 
The House of Councillors Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee 
summoned earlier today Toshio Tamogami, who has been dismissed from 
the post of Air Self-Defense Force chief of staff due to his essay 
justifying Japan's war of aggression and colonial rule, as an 
unsworn witness. Tamogami admitted that he had informed the Air 
Staff Office Education Division chief of the essay contest but he 
also indicated that he had not issued an order for sending essays to 
the competition. He also denied any improper relations with the APA 
Group that organized the contest, such as the provision of funds. 
 
Main points from Tamogami's testimony 
 
? Although he informed the Air Staff Office of the essay contest he 
did not give an order for sending essays. 
? He has not received funds, such as "car fees," from the APA Group 
that organized the essay contest. 
? He was not warned when he contributed a similar essay to the ASDF 
journal in May 2007. This time around, his essay has become a hot 
topic because it has created a stir. 
? He told the ASDF deputy chief of staff that it would be better to 
examine his essay (in the process of a disciplinary action) to make 
it clear where the problem lies. 
? Freedom of speech for SDF personnel should not be controlled. He 
thinks it is strange to control the freedom of speech based on the 
government's view. 
 
8) Gist of questions to and answers by Tamogami in Diet 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
November 11, 2008 
 
Former Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Toshio Tamogami was 
summoned to the House of Councillors Foreign Affairs and Defense 
Committee as an unsworn witness yesterday. Major exchanges there are 
as follows: 
 
Keiichiro Asao (Democratic Party of Japan): Whom in the Air 
Self-Defense Force did you tell about the essay contest? 
 
Tamogami: I mentioned the essay contest to the Air Staff Office's 
Education Division chief. Some persons claim that I instructed 
members to submit essays, but if I had given such an instruction, 
more than 1,000 (ASDF personnel) would have sent essays. 
 
Asao: Did you receive funds or any benefits from the APA Group (the 
organizer of the essay contest)? 
 
Tamogami: No. I didn't receive anything. 
 
TOKYO 00003126  006 OF 009 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 11//08 
 
 
Asao: Did the Internal Bureau of the Defense Ministry issue a 
warning to you for contributing that essay to its internal magazine 
in May of last year? 
 
Tamogami: No, it didn't. 
 
Asao: Why do you think that essay has become a problem now? 
 
Tamogami: That is because the essay evoked public criticism, I 
think. 
 
Asao: Why didn't the ministry issue a warning last year? 
 
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada: Since it (the essay in question) 
was carried in an internal magazine, we did not pay close attention. 
We did not check it fully. 
 
Asao: The lack of a check was the government's mistake. 
 
Hamada: I do not deny that (the essay) affected many SDF members. 
 
Asao: Do you think the responsibility rests with Director General of 
the Defense Ministry's Secretariat Kimito Nakae? 
 
Hamada: That is right. 
 
Asao: Was your essay intended to prompt the people to realize the 
need to change the government's interpretation of the Constitution 
over the use of the right to collective self-defense? 
 
Tamogami: Although I did not make such an appeal in my latest essay, 
I think it would be better to change the interpretation because 
views are divided over the issue of how to protect the nation. 
 
Asao: For what reason do you think you were dismissed? 
 
Tamogami: I was dismissed for the reason that I expressed a view 
contradictory to a statement by then Prime Minister Tomiichi 
Murayama (apologizing for Japan's colonial rule and aggression), but 
I believe my view is not wrong. From the viewpoint of civilian 
control, I think it is politically quite natural for the ministry to 
dismiss me, based on the judgment that my view is different (from 
successive Japanese administrations). I do not think at all what I 
wrote is wrong, and I think (what I wrote) is necessary in order for 
Japan to move in the right direction. 
 
Tadashi Inuzuka (DPJ): Why wasn't disciplinary action taken? 
 
Hamada: We wanted to avoid demoralizing SDF members by allowing him 
to make a new assertion different from the government's view (in a 
disciplinary trial). 
 
Inuzuka: If there were a trial, would you have expressed your own 
view? 
 
Tamogami: Since I think the Murayama statement was a political 
statement, I would have insisted that we have the right of free 
speech. 
 
9) DPJ ready to pursue Tamogami essay issue at length, treating it 
separately from refueling bill 
 
TOKYO 00003126  007 OF 009 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 11//08 
 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
November 12, 2008 
 
Ex-Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Toshio Tamogami was 
summoned to the House of Councillors Foreign Affairs and Defense 
Committee as an unsworn witness to testify on his controversial 
essay yesterday. The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has asserted 
that this incident revealed that civilian control over Self-Defense 
Force's (SDF) ranking officers is not properly functioning. The main 
opposition party intends to pursue at length the government and the 
ruling c*:dE+ut linking it to a bill amending the 
New Antiterrorism Special Measures Law to continue the SDF's 
refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. The bill is scheduled to be 
voted on at the said committee tomorrow. 
 
The opposition camp has been pursuing the responsibility of the 
prime minister and the defense minister for having appointed 
Tamogami as ASDF chief of staff, despite his repeated expression of 
his private views about Japan's wartime aggression to SDF and 
external audiences. 
 
DPJ President Ozawa told reporters in Kobe yesterday afternoon: "His 
(Tamogami) views and thinking were present in the ASDF from before. 
Despite this, the government appointed him but when the facts were 
revealed, forced him to retire. Such a way of disposing of the 
matter presents a very serious problem." He pointed out the prime 
minister's responsibility for appointing him and criticized the 
government's method of disposing of the problem. 
 
Japanese Communist Party Chairman Shii also emphasized in a news 
conference: "It is necessary to clarify why the government left this 
issue unattended." 
 
In an executive meeting of the said committee held yesterday 
afternoon, the DPJ called for: (1) intensive deliberations to be 
joined by the prime minister, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff, and the chiefs of staff of the Ground Self-Defense Force, the 
Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Air Self-Defense Force; and (2) 
a live telecast question-and-answer session with the participation 
of the prime minister. But the party said that it would accept a 
plan to hold intensive deliberations after a vote is taken on the 
refueling bill. 
 
Such a stance reflects the calculation of the party, as explained by 
a senior Upper House member, that if the ruling parties promise to 
conduct intensive deliberations after a vote, the party will find it 
easier to thoroughly grill them over the issue without soliciting 
public criticism of its approach as an attempt to delay the voting." 
Upper House Secretary General Kenji Hirata said in a press 
conference yesterday that the Tamogami issue and the voting of the 
refueling bill are separate matters. 
 
Criticism even from among ruling party members 
 
Even some ruling party members criticized Tamogami's replies in the 
meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. 
 
New Komeito President Ota contended in a news conference: "His 
replies remarkably lack the ability to be aware of the 
responsibility and the social impact of acts and deeds by himself as 
the top ASDF officer." He added: "Future options for personnel 
 
TOKYO 00003126  008 OF 009 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 11//08 
 
appointments should be reconsidered, and proper education should be 
given to SDF officers, including senior members." 
 
In the ruling camp, a senior Upper House member stated: "The 
participation of the four chiefs of staff might be difficult, 
because if so, they will be pressed to make political statements, 
but I think intensive deliberations joined by the prime minister 
will be unavoidable." 
 
10) Akahata obtains National Defense Academy textbook justifying 
past wars from Japan-Sino War to Great East Asian War as acts of 
"self-defense" 
 
AKAHATA (Top play) (Abridged slightly) 
November 11, 2008 
 
An "overview on national defense," a required subject at National 
Defense Academy, is using a textbook titled the Introduction to 
Defense, which specifically calls World War II a "rising national 
interests and warfare based on self-defense." Akahata has discovered 
this from material obtained as of Nov. 10 from government sources. 
The textbook bears some similarity to an essay by dismissed Air 
Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Toshio Tamogami, who wrote that 
Japan is not an aggressor nation, a position at a variance with the 
government's position. With this, the teaching of history at the 
National Defense Academy is likely to be called into question. 
 
The Introduction to Defense was published in March 2007 during the 
former Abe cabinet by the National Defense Academy for use in 
national defense classrooms. The 143-page textbook, which is defined 
as a comprehensive textbook combining all defense areas to be 
handled in the four-year education period based on defense science 
to taught at National Defense Academy, consists of seven chapters, 
including security, the present strategy, Japan's defense and the 
SDF. 
 
The textbook sees aggression by Hitler's Nazi Germany and Japan's 
militarism as only natural in its Chapter 4 Section 2 on history of 
world wars. The text states: "In Germany under the onerous and 
punitive Versailles System, it was natural for nationalism to flare 
up and for that country to resolve to retaliate. This feverish 
nationalism spread to Italy, Japan, Spain and other countries." 
 
Chapter 4 Section 3 on history of Japan's wars discusses Japan's 
past wars by referring to them as the Japan-China War, Japan-Russian 
War, World War I, Manchurian Incident, China Incident, Great East 
Asia War-- the names used in those days. The textbook also discusses 
Japan's wars of aggression (acts) since the Meiji Era from a 
viewpoint of self-defense, stating: The cause of the wars was 
basically self-defense against the invasion of Asia by Western 
powers as part of rising self-interests and the clashes that 
accompanied such." 
 
On Nov. 9, the Mainichi Shimbun carried a commentary by National 
Defense Academy President Makoto Iokibe that read: "I have 
reexamined the contents of history education at National Defense 
Academy, and I could not find any contents that glorified that 
war." 
 
11) Record number of 1,231 companies went bankrupt in October 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
 
TOKYO 00003126  009 OF 009 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 11//08 
 
November 12, 2008 
 
The private credit research company Teikoku Databank (TDB) released 
yesterday the results of a research. According to the results, 1,231 
companies (total liabilities of more than 10 million yen) went into 
bankruptcy in October. The number was up 13.7 PERCENT  from October 
last year, making the largest number since April 2005, when 
statistical criteria were revised. The possibility is strong that 
the total number of companies going bankrupt this year will reach a 
record high since 2005, because 10,524 companies have already gone 
under since January. 
 
Total liabilities were approximately 979 billion yen, 2.2 times 
those in the same month last year, making this the second largest 
amount since September, when liabilities marked a record high due to 
the failure of Lehman Brothers, Japan. In October, there were 12 
major bankruptcies with a total deficit of more than 10 billion 
yen. 
 
About 80 PERCENT  of the 1,231 companies went bankrupt due to the 
business slump. Breaking the number down by industrial groupings, 
many construction and real estate companies became bankrupt and the 
bankruptcies of manufacturers were up 30.4 percent from last 
October. 
 
SCHIEFFER